"No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." - James Madison

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Florida: The Dead Jesus State

So I get that Jesus dying is a kinda important event for Christians, but be that as it may, isn't this kind of a reach? Imagine you're driving down the highway, minding your own business, then WHAM dead Jesus? I expect to see fish with Greek letters on cars, not that. Kinda jarring. I suppose I should expect this out of a state with a governor named Crist...

Oh well, I guess it drives the point home though. (Groan.)

Of course, this raises some fascinating Constitutional questions. Is it government endorsement of religion or government facilitation of free expression/exercise? This is a question I am completely not qualified to answer.

Actually, I think there's a case before the Supreme Court right now on the constitutionality of those "Choose Life" license plates. There's not really as much of a religion question on that one (though some may try to paint it as such). But there are similar issues.

Okay...I just looked up the news on that case. It seems the Court is being asked to rule on those license plates, but they've refused to rule on it before.

Y'know, except for the possible endorsement of religion thing, I don't see what's so bad about the license plate. As Jeff said, this whole "death of Jesus" thing IS important to us Christians. This is far from the most kitschy "Christian memorabilia" thing I've seen. I know people would react differently to it, but on a purely personal level I always appreciate a reminder of Christ and his sacrifice. It tends to put things in perspective for me when I get all worked up about some case.

When Jeff mentioned "Dead Jesus", I imagined something all gory...like out of Mel Gibson's Passion movie. THAT would be inappropriate to have out in public. But the actual license plate isn't so bad.

So, really, the only thing I find laughable about that plate is the picture of crucified Jesus directly above the words "Sunshine State." One thing that picture does NOT do is make me feel all bright and sunshine-y. Although that medieval-painting-like halo behind Jesus's head looks kind of like the sun......eh, it's a stretch.